The Nigerian Government is expecting the first batch of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines from India on Tuesday, March 2, 2021, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Chairman Presidential Task Force on COVID- 19, Mr. Boss Mustapha, has said.
Mr. Mustapha, who disclosed this on Saturday in Abuja, said that the vaccine supply was through the delivery plan released by UNICEF.
He explained that UNICEF is in charge of the logistics for the supply of the vaccine meant for Nigeria through the COVAX facility that is bringing four million doses in the first batch of the shipment to the country.
“I can assure you that the vaccines are coming and coming very quickly barring any change in the delivery plan released to us by UNICEF. The logistics and other things are in the hands of UNICEF. The vaccines should depart India on the March 1 2021 at 10. 30 pm and arrive Abuja on March 2, 2021 at about 11.10 am.
“We are making preparations for them and this one is about four million doses of vaccines and we are supposed to receive about 16-million dosages in the first quarter,” local media reports on Sunday quoted Mr. Mustapha as saying.
He explained that about 84 million doses are expected from COVAX to be supplied to cover 20 percent of the Nigerian population.
He disclosed that the Nigerian government also has another source from the Harvard facility, which is the African Vaccine Action team, a combination of Oxford AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson vaccines.
According to him, 41 million doses are expected from the second source.
GIK/APA